Going up the Amazon River, it was easy to imagine the world was still brand new, untouched by progress or technology. Our little boat was like a time machine, the millennia falling away beneath the bow. This must be how things were at the beginning, I thought, before the arrival of mankind.
Birdsong rang from the jungle. A half-submerged caiman, the South American cousin of the alligator, watched us from the shadows of the bank, only its eyes visible. A giant river otter surfaced with a half-eaten fish. Spider monkeys, dancing through the trees, suddenly stopped to gaze down at us.
Amazonia, the famed 2.5 million-square-mile rainforest, is never just a destination. In the popular imagination, it's an image of prelapsarian wilderness-and the manifestation of our environmental nightmares. According to satellite data, an estimated 110,000 square miles of rainforest in Brazil (an area the size of Nevada) have been lost this century so far, much of it to monoculture agribusiness. And the pace of deforestation, which had been slowing, spiked under the administration of the anti-conservation president Jair Bolsonaro, which lasted from 2019 to 2022.
But I had come to Brazil to explore a more hopeful narrative, to learn how conscious travel can be a tool in the pursuit of habitat protection and wildlife conservation. I visited three eco-lodges that run preservation programs in the country's most vulnerable habitats: the central Cerrado savanna, the southwestern Pantanal wetlands, and the sprawling Amazon rainforest. At each property, surrounded by natural beauty, visitors are encouraged to learn about and help protect these remote biosystems and the species that live there.
THE CERRADO GRASSLANDS-POUSADA TRIJUNÇÃO
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Denne historien er fra April 2024-utgaven av Travel+Leisure US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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EARTHLY DELIGHTS
Come fall, the Italian region of Umbria is a lush, fertile inland oasis. Peter Terzian reaps a bounty of culinary and cultural pleasures.
RUNNER'S HIGH
Some travelers like to move at a faster clip. Alexandra Kleeman crosses the peaks and pastures of Ireland with a group of women who take life in stride.
THE WILDEST ISLE
Compared with its neighbors, the island of Hawaii is bigger, more untamed-and, at times, unpredictable. With her family in tow, Flora Stubbs finds the perfect balance between relaxation and rugged adventure.
A ticket to the top of the world
On a luxurious train tour of Peru, Lake Titicaca and Machu Picchu are the headline acts. But, as Monisha Rajesh discovers, witnessing everyday life from the rails can be every bit as memorable.
Bonjour la France
When an American writer retires in Brittany, she learns how to belong again.
Chills and Thrills
On an Alaskan wilderness adventure, Sarah Manguso and her son learn the elements of survival.
Wheels on Fire
With its blazing fall colors and picturesque villages, the Japanese island of Kyushu was made for cycling.
Down to Earth
Pottery runs deep in Santa Fe, from hallowed Pueblo collections to clay-throwing pubs.
Steel City Shining
A tech boom; a thriving cultural scene; destination dining. Can this be... Pittsburgh?
HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL
This cute Pennsylvania town is brimming with artistic and cultural energy.